"By this time, the apex of the arch and its left-hand side were almost uncovered. The notabilities had been given notable treatment; he'd even used gold leaf on the clothes and astonishingly, cinnabar to gladden lips and cheeks of the supporting seraphic cast. In fact, here and there, the willingness of whoever had put up the money had gone to his head and he'd been staggeringly prodigal with the expensive reds and almost prohibitively priced leaf.
But once he'd begun ( as I was now beginning) on the damned souls dithering on the brink of the flames or hurtling headlong into them, he'd switched to the cheap stuff, red earth and iron oxides. Even so, this concentration of similars saved it from odious comparison with the no-expense-spared Michael and his bloodthirsty furnace hands, And he'd compensated too by his vigorous treatment: he'd really warmed to the work. Up at the top he'd done an extremely competent job, well, more than that, because he was a master of his trade and couldn't have done anything but a great job. But now -- coming to this lower slope, he'd thrown in the lot -- art and heart.
....Who was he! I couldn't even name him."
A Month in the Country J. L. Carr
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